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Zoë Saldana
Zoë Nazario , better known as Zoë Saldana, is an American actress and model who plays Uhura in . She will be taking over the role from Nichelle Nichols, who played the role on Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, and six feature films. Saldana was born in New Jersey to immigrants from the Dominican Republic and raised in Queens, New York. After her father's death in a car accident when she was nine, Saldana and her sisters moved with their mother to the Dominican Republic. Saldana took ballet lessons during her time in the Republic and ultimately returned to the United States and joined the Faces Theater Program. She left the program after making her feature film debut in the 2000 musical drama Center Stage, co-starring actress Donna Murphy. Following Center Stage, Saldana worked with Kirsten Dunst in the 2001 comedy Get Over It and with Kim Cattrall in 2002's Crossroads. In 2002, she starred in the musical romantic comedy Drumline, for which she shared an MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Kiss with her co-star . She then had roles in Disney's 2003 summer blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (with Lee Arenberg, Greg Ellis and Guy Siner) and in 's 2004 comic drama The Terminal (with Jude Ciccolella), in which she played an airport immigration officer who happened to be a devout Trekkie. In the 2005 independent film Constellation, Saldana played the daughter of Clarence Williams III's character and also co-starred with fellow Star Trek players David Clennon, Alec Newman, and Gabrielle Union. Later, Saldana's role in the 2005 comedy Guess Who (co-starring Robert Curtis Brown) earned her nominations from at least four different organizations: the Black Movie Awards, the Black Reel Awards, the Image Awards, and the Teen Choice Awards. Her subsequent film credits include Dirty Deeds with Michael Bofshever, Premium with William Sadler, Ways of the Flesh with Irene Tsu, and Blackout with Saul Rubinek. She most recently appeared in the thriller Vanatage Point, which also featured Bruce McGill. She has another thriller awaiting release entitled The Skeptic. Saldana previously worked with Star Trek director and producer J.J. Abrams and executive producer Bryan Burk when she had a recurring role on the short-lived television series Six Degrees in 2006. Her only other television credits are guest appearances on Law & Order (her first professional acting job) and its spin-off series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Saldana was working on 's highly-anticipated film Avatar when Abrams offered her Star Trek. Because she was already on a project and because she had a "lack of knowledge about Star Trek," Saldana was reluctant to accept the role of Uhura. Despite the scheduling issues it would cause, Cameron insisted that Saldana take the role, even going so far as to invite Abrams to the set to discuss the situation. http://trekmovie.com/2008/08/25/saldana-needed-some-convincing-to-take-on-uhura/ External links *ZoeSaldana.com - official web site * * *Original casting announcement at TrekMovie.com *[http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117972130.html?categoryId=13&cs=1 Saldana cast in Abrams' Star Trek] from Variety Saldaña, Zoë Saldaña, Zoë